[Coral-List] NOAA Offers a New Tool to Track Ocean Acidification in the Caribbean
Mark Eakin
Mark.Eakin at noaa.gov
Thu Nov 13 11:09:37 EST 2008
NOAA Coral Reef Watch is pleased to announce a new tool for monitoring
ocean acidification in the surface waters of the Greater Caribbean
Region. Through an innovative approach combining ship observations
and satellite data, a detailed picture of ocean acidification across
much of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico is now available. The new
tool is described in the October 31, 2008 issue of the Journal of
Geophysical Research – Oceans and reveals significant ocean
acidification across the region. The study used four years of ocean
chemistry observations provided by NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and
Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) that were taken aboard the Royal
Caribbean Cruise Line ship Explorer of the Sea. The ship observations
were used to develop a satellite-based model to discern changes in
surface chemistry due to ocean acidification over the past two
decades. The article can be found at http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2008/2007JC004629.shtml
The new Ocean Acidification products are available at http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/oa/
, along with animations of the changes since 1988. The products will
be updated the first week of each month. The website provides
regional maps of a variety of ‘ocean acidification’-relevant
parameters and also hosts a series of other features including a
regional time-series and an Introduction to Ocean Acidification
discussion section. Future work will expand this to other coral reef
regions around the globe.
The new system allows NOAA to continuously estimate surface ocean
carbonate chemistry at monthly timescales and reveals considerable
seasonal variability, especially in waters around the Florida Keys.
How this variability might affect the susceptibility of these reefs to
future ocean acidification is uncertain but could be an important
consideration when predicting the long-term impacts.
Authors of the paper are Dwight K. Gledhill, NOAA NESDIS Coral Reef
Watch, E/RA31, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226;
Rik Wanninkhof, NOAA OAR AOML, 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL
33149; Frank J. Millero, Rosenstiel School, University of Miami, 4600,
Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149; and C. Mark Eakin, NOAA NESDIS
Coral Reef Watch, E/RA31, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD
20910-3226.
All of the Coral Reef Watch experimental products are available at http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/current/experimental_products.html
For more information on this product suite and to request reprints,
please contact Dwight.Gledhill at noaa.gov
Cheers,
Mark
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D.
Coordinator, NOAA Coral Reef Watch
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Center for Satellite Applications and Research
Satellite Oceanography & Climate Division
e-mail: mark.eakin at noaa.gov
url: coralreefwatch.noaa.gov
E/RA31, SSMC1, Room 5308
1335 East West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226
301-713-2857 x109 Fax: 301-713-3136
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